Crypto platform Binance intends to stay in the European Union and will make a fresh push for permission to operate there, a senior executive told Reuters, after its application under a new licence regime failed, threatening access for millions of users. "Binance is not leaving Europe," Gillian Lynch, head of Europe and the United Kingdom, told Reuters, after its bid to secure a licence in Greece to offer services such as crypto trading in the EU unravelled. Get a look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets with the Morning Bid U.S. newsletter. Sign up here. "We may just have a different pathway to being authorised," she said. "If it is not Greece, I'm looking at other alternatives." The comments put Binance on a potential collision course with European regulators. The company has one week to secure a licence before its current permission to operate in Europe expires, which would require it to wind down EU operations. Two people with knowledge of the process told Reuters that Binance has held talks with regulators in Ireland, Latvia and Greece but faced resistance in all three countries. They said officials were concerned about the company's past penalties for money laundering, its complex international structure and what they viewed as a risk-taking culture. Regulators in the three countries declined to comment, or did not respond. The approaches to several regulators highlight how one of the world's largest crypto companies has struggled to overcome regulatory resistance to securing an EU licence. Lynch said Binance did not know why it had been refused approval and had previously believed the Greek regulator planned to grant a licence. She said Binance had contacted four or five regulators but only made one application, to Greece. Asked about Binance's past problems, Lynch said Binance had invested in compliance and internal controls, employed about 1,500 compliance staff, and had no outstanding issues related to its application. you know what I mean, and complain. But, like, now we're, now we're getting proactive and that feels good.'
Reporting by John O'Donnell, Elizabeth Howcroft, Francesco Canepa and Lefteris Papadimas. Editing by Tommy Reggiori Wilkes, Elisa Martinuzzi and Mark Potter
Elizabeth Howcroft reports on finance and technology, including Europe's "fintech" industry and cryptocurrencies. She was part of the team which won a Loeb award and SABEW award for covering the collapse of crypto exchange FTX in 2022.
As one of Reuters' chief correspondents, John focuses on stories at the intersection of industry, the economy, finance and politics. From around Europe, chiefly London, Germany and Brussels, he has reported about the fallout of war, the energy crisis, China’s sanctions regime, economic rescue efforts for Afghanistan, money laundering in the Baltics, corporate frauds and bank scandals. He has also covered the 2008 economic crash and aftermath, the European Central Bank, European politics and banking.
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